Facebook skips IITs this year

MUMBAI: Last year's placement season at the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) saw Facebook make one of the most lucrative offers to a handful of students . This year, the social networking firm has not even registered for placements at any of the IITs,leaving several hopefuls disappointed .

Though the current global economic slowdown has not had a major impacton thetotal number of companies registering at IITs, some big names are yet to show up , placement co-ordinators told TOI.

At IIT-Bombay , for instance , approximately 210 firms have registered so far compared with last year's total of 280 . Avijit Chatterjee , IIT-B professor-in-charge for placements , though , hopes the numbers will rise by 100. Placements will continue till the end of the academic year in June . Chatterjee said that while Facebook won't be visiting this year , it has given a pre-placement offer (PPO) to a student.

In fact , at IIT-Madras , PPOs have already totalled 54 this year compared with 33 last year . "PPOs seem to be unaffected by the slowdown . We do not know how the season will play out but we are being cautious . Right now , only registrations are on and they may not translate into commitment ," said Chatterjee . The buzz on campuses is that the social networking firm has fulfilled its entire requirement from recruitments last year and the decision to not hire is not restricted to Indian institutes . Facebook officials were unavailable for comment.

Surbhi Garg , overall placement co-ordinator at IIT-Delhi , said at least 10 of their regular major recruiters won't visit the campus this year . A total of 170 companies have registered so far and the institute expects the number to rise to 250 by this month-end .Garg , too,said , "The situation seems a bit difficult this year as a few companies that came last year are not visiting the campus."

Harsh Sejwar , one of the overall placement co-ordinators from IIT-K anpur , said negotiations are still on . "The global slowdown has affected placements but it is too early to comment on the entire season . Several companies are hesitating to come but are keen as we had good relationsin the past."

Around 135 firms have registeredfor placementsin IIT-K . "Some international companiesfrom Singapore andJ apan have shown interest , so we hope to negotiate further . Some others are delaying their decision to hire ," he added . The graduating batch's strength at IIT-B has goneup by approximately 200 students.